Lamp holder attachment for dental hand pieces



June F. J. GIBBONS ET AL LAMP HOLDER ATTACHMENT FOR DENTAL HANDPIECES Filed Aug. 11, 1941 elf GRO Patented June 30, 1942 LAMP HOLDER ATTACHMENT FOR DENTAL- HAND PIECES Francis J. Gibbons and John J. Gibbons, Scranton, Pa.,

and Anna Gibbons, Brentwood, Md.

Application August 11, 1941, Serial No. 406,418

4 Claims.

This invention relates to attachments for dental handpieces, and more particularly has for its object to provide a lamp holder adapted to be attached to a dental handpiecefor supporting the lamp in proper position with respect to the drill, burr, abrasive stone or other instrumentality upon the .operative end of the handpiece.

An important object of our invention is to provide a lamp holder of the above character which is simple in construction and effective in operation, and which at the same time affords means for conveniently adjusting the lamp into proper position with respect to the handpiece.

A further object of our invention is to provide a lamp holder of the above character which is so constructed and arranged as to permit universal-adjustment of the lamp with respect to the handpiece and for retaining the lamp in its adjusted position.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, reference being had to the annexed drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a dental handpiece having a lamp holder attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a clamp forming part of the lamp holder by which the latter is attached to the dental handpiece;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the lamp retainer adapted to be supported upon the clamp; and

Figure 4 is a detail cross-sectional view on the line t-d of Fig. 2 showing the means for pivotally connecting the block which directly supports the lamp retainer to the clamp.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing is illustrated a dental handpiece i of conventional construction having at its forward operative end an abrasive stone 2' rotatably mounted thereon. Detachably mounted upon the handpiece is a lamp holder attachment 3 comprising as its principal parts a clamp 4, a rotatable base 5 mounted upon the clamp and a lamp retainer 6 adapted to receive and support a dental instrument lamp 1 of the elongated tubular type in a position generally par allel to the handpiece and with its beam directed in the vicinity of the abrasive stone 2. Thus, when the handpiece is operating within the mouth, the lamp illuminates the area being worked upon.

The clamp 4 is of the split collar type comprising a flat top 8 and a pair of oppositely bowed legs 4a adapted to encircle the handpiece l and be clamped thereon by means of a nut 9 engaging the end of a stud I0 secured 'to and extending outwardly from the inner face of one of the pairof legs through an opening II in the other of the pair of legs. By screwing the nut 9 onto the projecting endof the stud ill, the legs 4a of the clamp which normally are sprung apart, may be tightened into engagement with the handpiece to securely retain the lamp holder in association therewith.

Supported upon the fiat top 8 is a block l2 of generally rectangular shape having provided in its upper face an arcuate recess I 3 extending crosswise of the clamp and adapted to form a seat for the clyindrical lamp retainer 6. One end of the recess is closed by an upstanding ear I 4, and intermediate the length of the recess there is formed a slot I5 extending across the recess. The block I! is pivotally supported upon the top 8 by means of a rivet l6 extendingbetween the block and clamp as indicated in Fig. 4. By virtue of this construction, the block l2 may be rotated about the rivet l6, and a spring-pressed ball ll housed within the lower face of the block is arranged to engage any one of a plurality of depressions I 8 in the opposed flat face of the top 8 so as to yieldingly retain the block'in any desired position of adjustment. The lamp retainer 6 is of cylindrical form and of such diameter as to snugly seat within the arcuate recess [3. A fin i9 is provided upon the circumference of the retainer, this fin being adapted to fit within the slot l5' and prevent lengthwise displacement of the holder. The cylindical lamp retainer has a bore opening through one end and this end of the retainer is longitudinally cleft by a slot 20 which terminates in a circular expanded opening 20a constituting a socket for receiving the cylindrical dental lamp 1. The slot 20 is sufiiciently wide to allow the dental lamp to be introduced laterally into the socket 20a, the two sections 6a and 6b of the retainer lying upon opposite sides of the slot 20 yielding slightly to allow the passage of the lamp into the socket. A pin 2| having a threaded lower end passes through the upper section to of the retainer and is adapted to screw into a threaded opening 22 in the lower section 6b so as to draw the sections together and clamp the lamp within the socket when the thumb nut is tightened. It is necessary, when a dental lamp is to be inserted in or removed from the socket to unscrew the pin and raise it to the position shown in Fig. 3 to allow the passage of the lamp the section 6b is preferably filled with lead or other metal, as indicated at 23, so as to weight that side or the retainer which rests within the recess IS on the block 5.

Projecting axially outward from the closed end of the retainer 6 is a screw-threaded stud 24, this stud being designed to pass through an opening 25 through the ear ll on block 5. A

- thumb nut 25 is threaded upon the free end or this stud, and is adapted to be tightened against the outer face of the ear. When so tightened, a collar 21 surrounding the base of the stud and formed integral with the closed end or the retainer, is drawn against the inner face of the ear. For locking these parts against turnin the collar 21 is formed with a serrated face, indicated at 28, which interfits with a correspondingly serrated face 29 on the ear I.

The lamp is formed at its end 1a opposite its illuminated end lb so as to screw into an electric socket (not shown) for connecting the lamp with a source of current.

When the dental lamp holder is to be attached to the handpiece, the nut! is released so as to allow the legs 40 of the clamp 4 to spring apart sufliciently far so that the handpiece I may be introduced in a lengthwise direction between the legs. Then the nut 9 is tightened so as to tightly,

grip the handpiece and the abrasive stone 2, or other operating instrumentality, is connected to the end of the handpiece in the usual manner. The pin 2| is next unscrewed and the dental lamp is inserted into the socket 20a, following which the pin is screwed into the threaded opening 22 to draw the sections 6a and 6b of the retainer together so as to grip and hold the lamp in its socket.

The lampordinarily will extend to a position adjacent the abrasivestone 2 so as to illuminate the area of the mouth surrounding the dental stone. In order to secure the proper adjustment of the lamp in conformity with diflerent sizes and styles of operating instrumentalities, (abrasive stones, drills, etc.) with straight and contra-angled handpieces, and with straight and angled types of dental lamps, the block 5 carrying the lamp retainer may be rotated about the pin IE to swing the lamp to one side or the other of the operative end of the handpiece, where it will be impositively held by the ball detent l1. Also the lamp may be adjusted about an axis at right-angles to the pin I6 so as to raise or lower the lamp from and toward the operative end of the handpiece by releasing the nut 9, rotating the retainer upon its seat l3 and then again tightening this nut to secure the retainer in its newly adjusted position. Thus, our-lamp holder is capable of universal adjustment to adapt it to all normal conditions of use.

Obviously various changes in construction and design may be made in the dental lamp holder described above without departing from the spirit of our invention as defined in the followin claims.

We claim:

1. A lamp holding attachment for dental handpieces comprising a clamp adapted to be fixedly attached to the handpiece,.a block rotatably mounted upon the top of said clamp so as to swing aboutan axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis oisaid handpiece, means for retaining said block in different positions of rotatable adjustment, an arcuate seat formed upon said block disposed in a direction transversely of the handpiece, a cylindrical retainer resting within said arcuate seat, a slot diametrically dividing said retainer from one end inwardly for a substantial portion or its length and terminating in an enlarged cylindrical opening providing a socket for receiving a dental lamp, the arrangement being such that a dental lamp may be introduced laterally through the slot into said socket, releasable means for drawing together the slotted sections oi the retainer for clamping the lamp in the socket, an ear located upon the block adjacent that end of the retainer opposite its slotted end, a stud project-' ing axially from the retainer through an opening in said ear, and a nut for irictionally holding the end of the retainer in contact, said nut being releasable to permit angular adjustment of the retainer upon its seat.

2. A lamp holding attachment for dental handpieces as set forth in claim 1 .and including an interi'ltting slot and fin connection between the cylindrical retainer and arcuate seat for permitting angular adjustment of the retainer upon its seat but preventing axial displacement of said retainer.

3. A lamp holding attachment for dental handpieces as set forth in claim 1 in which the means for retaining the block in difierent positions of rotatable adjustment comprises a spring detent intermediate the block and the clamp.

4. A lamp holding attachment for dental handpieces as set forth in claim 1 in which the clamp comprises a pair or oppositely bowed legs adapted to straddle the handpiece, a stud extending between the lower ends of the legs and a nut threaded upon said stud for drawing the legs together into binding engagement with the handpiece.

FRANCIS J. GIBBONS. JOHN J. GIBBONS. ANNA GIBBONS. 

